Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Media Studio
Teaching staff
Geoffrey Cowper – gcowper@uic.es
By appointment arranged previously by email or 5-10 minutes after each on-site class time.
Introduction
Studio is a 1 ECTS credit course taught in the first term of the first year of Audiovisual Communication.
This course introduces students in the professional world by providing them with important technical and narrative skills to convey the desired message. In addition, they experience what involves teamwork and acquire professional attitudes for the creation of an audiovisual product.
It's also very important that they learn how they have to book the equipment for the shooting and the editing and post production facilities.
Teacher: Geoffrey Cowper
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisites are required.
Objectives
To learn the basic technical and narrative skills needed to develop an audio-visual product.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 01 - The ability to adapt to varying circumstances
- 02 - The ability to understand, accept criticism and correct errors
- 03 - The ability to administer and manage human and technical resources
- 04 - The ability to work in a team and autonomously
- 05 - The ability to organise time and workspace
- 06 - The ability to develop academic rigour, responsibility, ethics and professionalism
- 07 - The ability to apply the deontology and respect for the audiovisual sector
- 08 - The ability of critical analysis, synthesis, concretion and abstraction
- 09 - The ability to objectify, quantify and interpret (data, statistics, empirical evidence )
- 10 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
- 11 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
- 12 - The ability to meet deadlines, develop the ability to be punctual and respect for human, technical and material resources
- 13 - The ability to create spoken and written communication
- 14 - Knowledge and mastery of rhetoric and oratory to communicate own ideas
- 16 - The ability to manage, analysis and reflect on content
- 17 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the events of social reality and to represent Contemporary History
- 18 - The capacity and development of general culture and interest in social events
- 19 - The ability of informative documentation
- 20 - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic media
- 21 - Knowledge and mastery of the digital culture
- 22 - Knowledge and mastery of the distinction between opinion and information / colloquial and cultured register
- 23 - The ability to prioritize newsworthy events and contrast information
- 24 - The ability to plan and organize both short term and long term projects
- 25 - The ability to maximize creative development
- 26 - The ability to develop a sense of taste and perfection in the aesthetics and finalization of projects
- 37 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the organizational structure of global communication
- 42 - The ability to distinguish, analyze and dominate the distinct genres and formats of television, film and radio
- 44 - The ability to adapt to new audiovisual formats
- 45 - The ability to know and dominate the techniques of audiovisual narrative.
- 50 - The ability to adapt, understand and apply the expressive possibilities of new technologies and future changes
- 52 - The ability to apply audiovisual knowledge and techniques for commercial purposes in any form
- 53 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
- 54 - The ability to skillfully manage the literature, terminology and linguistic structures of the English language related to the field of communication.
Learning outcomes of the subject
Students will begin in a professional environment with autonomy regarding the use of cameras and its application in the language of film.
They will practice all functions needed for the development of an audio-visual product. They’ll know the importance of the three basic stages; the idea and script, the pre-production and the shooting, and the editing and post production.
They will use with good judgment narrative and storytelling techniques to accomplish a decent audio-visual product.
Syllabus
1. Basic concepts of visual language.
2. Description of the process of creating an audiovisual product.
3. Critical analysis and interpretation of television commercials.
4. Filming Materials: production plan and storyboard.
5. Brief introduction to the functions of the camera.
6. Brief introduction to the editing process.
7. Analysis and criticism exercises outcomes.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The course consists of a theoretical part, a practical part with coaching and monitoring and, finally, evaluation and feedback.
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
|---|---|
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 0,2 |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 0,2 |
| Practical workshop. A highly practical working activity, where students can acquire skills that are practical or also theoretical (intellectual skills, logical skills, critical skills, intellectual learning skills, study skills, quoting skills, etc). | 0,5 |
| Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. | 0,1 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
Attitude, teamwork, compliance deadline, creativity, design and content will be considered as well as part of the multiavaluation system.
Exercises to be done:
Creation of the idea and informative portfolio
Storyboard and production planning
Camera exercise
Editing exercise
Presentation of the project
Avalutation:
50% Group's mark (Project + exercises)
30% Individual mark* (individual dossier + individual mark based on attendance**, initiative, technical abilities and team work)
20% Exame
* It is necessary to pass the individual part to pass the subject.
** 80% attendance is a mandatory to pass the course.
If the student doesn’t pass the first evaluation, the second one will consist of doing an exhaustive dossier analyzing a pre-existing piece of audiovisual material focusing on its main concept, the story, and how its brought to its audience through its storytelling, cast, the artistic contributions of each main department (direction, cinematography, editing, sound, music, production design, visual effects, costume and make up) and if the main purpose of the chosen video has been accomplished and why.
Bibliography and resources
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee. Methuen Film (1999)
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. Michael Wiese Productions (2005)
Directors close up by Jeremy Kagan. Scarecrow Press (2005)
Making Movies by Sidney Lumet. Vintage books (1996)
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch. Silman-James Press (2001)
Writing Drama by Yves Lavandier. Le Clown & l’enfant (2005).
Making a good script great by Linda Seger. Silman-James Press (2010)
Hitchcock Truffaut by François Truffaut. Faber and Faber (2017)